Perfect Imperfections
by x.Ellie.x
Summary: This fic spans from Lily and James's first year at Hogwarts until the day that they die. It is the story of their lives filled with romance, drama, angst, and a little humor to carry it all along. This is the pure story of Lily and James the way I see it.


Title: Perfect Imperfections  
Authoress: Ellie  
Genres: Romance, humor, drama, and angst  
Rating: All of year one would be G-ish and as the story progresses, it gets PG-ish and, yeah, there will be some mature parts later on therefore the general rating is PG-13.  
Disclaimer: Pfft. I am totally J.K. Rowling! I totally own all you recognize! I am so totally making a profit off of this! Kindly note the sarcasm.  
Authoress's note: I adore constructive criticism as much as I do compliments so please review the story after you've read it-it would mean the world to me! But I absolutely do not tolerate flaming. I had no control whatsoever over your decision to read this story, remember that. And surely you can have the intelligence to specify what it is about my writing you think I can improve on instead of just saying 'ur story sux'. Thank you muchly!

-Perfect Imperfections-

_Chapter One_

For the umpteenth time that month, ten-year-old Lily Evans awoke in her bed with a start. Breathing hard, she threw the covers off of her, jumped out of the small bed, and shook herself mentally. _It's only a dream..._, she told herself, _It's not real at all..._It was always the same dream that refused to leave her in peace of mind. First she was stranded in a completely foreign place...at first she was calm and collected and then the panic would slowly begin to settle in. In a frantic mess, she would run the fastest she'd ever had in all her life, dashing down seemingly endless corridor after corridor, screaming for someone she knew to guide her out of this wretched place. Her cries were always destined to become mute in the dark, stretching hallways, and, obviously, no one would come to her aid; she'd be left forever running.

At that point there would be a sudden flash of blindingly bright light, devouring the darkness in mere seconds. And then...then she would find herself in a relatively small room with golden pillars supporting the ceiling. And just ahead of her would be...a boy. She didn't know who he was or why he was there but Lily always wanted to know him-or at least to meet him, to see his face. Just before she could reach him, darkness would obscure the room and a cackling, clearly evil-sounding laugh would break out through it. That was always the point in which Lily would awake, covered in a cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably.

"It's just a dream. Just a dream. I'm in my own room, perfectly safe and sound. Just a dream is all it is..." Lily spoke aloud, hoping the sound of her own voice would slow her rapidly beating heart. However, her words failed to offer console of any kind as her voice came out as a squeak, meek and barely audible. She hugged herself and laid back down, hoping that if she tried to think of happier times she would be able to lull herself back to sleep. Knowing this to be quite impossible, the ruffled ten-year-old reached out a hand to switch on the lamp on her night table. Sighing as warm light washed over her bedroom, Lily glanced at the clock that was hanging over her bed. The numbered face and slender black hands informed her that it was precisely thirty-two minutes past midnight.

Her eyes shifted to a calender which depicted a picture of a small white kitten peeking through a garland of wild flowers hanging on her wall and upon realizing she was no longer a ten-year-old girl, she immediately sat bolt-upright in her bed. _July 24, 1971-the end of a decade._ Lily peeled herself off her bed and dragged her feet over to the cherry wood wardrobe sitting at the end of her red (The bedroom in which Lily Evans resided in was all done up in red, her favorite color) room. She swung open the door and gazed into the mirror hanging on it as her reflection faithfully stared directly into her emerald green eyes.

A petite girl with a pale complexion was what Lily saw. Her skin was made even paler in contrast to her vibrant red hair and currently-too-large-for-her-head emerald eyes. Lily studied herself for a full fifteen minutes, the longest time she'd ever spent in front of a mirror, and finally came to the conclusion that she looked no different than when she was ten. How she had so hoped she would be a changed individual at the age of eleven! Eleven had always been Lily's lucky number and a number Lily had always considered to be very auspicious. She had hoped so that a new beginning of a new decade would bring change to her life. Yes, she knew it to be impossible, but logic was nowhere near strong enough to extinguish her ever-burning flames of hope. And yet there she stood in front of the same mirror in the same bedroom, awoken from the same haunting nightmare. Had the miraculous change in her life taken place? Had a valiant prince in shining armor taken her away to a vast golden castle upon the back of a noble steed? No. She was still the same boring, lonely Lily Evans. Still shorter than all the girls in her grade, still possessed the same awful, untameable hair, still had the same eerily green eyes, still virtually friendless, still living a boring life, still being haunted by the same dream. Lily Evans was not a changed girl. She feared she would always be plain Evans, no matter what she did and regardless of how hard she wished, how many times a shooting star passed her by, and how many times she burdened it with her hopeless desire. Eleven was not the magic number she had believed it to be. Eleven had failed her.

As Lily curled back up on her bed, she tried, fruitlessly, to talk sense into herself. But regardless of how hard she strived, she could not hear her own voice; only the voices of her friends and family:

_I can't see why you complain so, Lily! When I was your age, I would have given anything to look like you. You're beautiful, honey, and unique - I bet all the girls at school secretly wish they looked like you. They're jealous, really_, her mother had told her.

_Lils, I wish I had your hair! It's_ much _prettier than my hair. Boring and brown and boring! And you're my best friend for a reason, you know. It's because you're nice and funny and smart, Lils! You don't want to be like the popular girls, anyway. I don't see why anyone would want that...they're so _perfect_ - it's just unnatural! And boring, not to mention. And they're not too bright, either..._Lily's friend had gone on and on informing her of how great she was, a flawless mirror of her mother.

_Princess, you're my beautiful, smart funny girl! You better watch out, you know, in a few years all the boys will be going after you..._Lily's father had assured her.

_You'd better calm down, Lillian. You're only ten! You think you've got it bad _now_? Just wait a few years. Stress, pressure, and more stress..._Petunia, Lily's older sister hadn't exactly comforted her.

Lily sighed, shaking the thoughts from her head. She found it astounding that all had said the same. She couldn't help but appreciate just how loyal her family and friend were to her but she knew their words were all white lies nonetheless.

Lily Evans was as compassionate and loyal as she was quick-witted and bookish. She wasn't boring either - she had quite the rebellious spirit and could be quite mischievous when it suited her fancy. And though she was blind to it, she was indeed very pretty. So then why, _why_, she had asked herself numerous times, why was she all alone? None of the most popular girls in her grade were very bright; they walked around with their noses held high in the air, oblivious to the needs of others, and were mild-mannered although they always tried to grow up much too quickly. Lily and her best friend loathed these girls with a passion - so why did she so want to be like them? The answer was perfectly understandable and simple: She truly did not wish to be like them in any way. But all the same, she longed continuously for their perfect hair and many friends. Lily did know that that which she longed for was an illusion - all their friends were fickle and it took them at least an hour to care for their silky tresses. And yet...there was forever present that unmistakeable longing to be anyone but herself.

Once more Lily asked herself why she was so different and really thought about it. Her thick red locks and vibrant emerald eyes were the first two features to come to mind but then she considered her personality. She read more books in a week than most adults could possibly read in a month, she could kick a softball farther than any of the boys in her school, she wasn't afraid to be funny, and obtained straight A's in every subject. _Maybe they really are jealous_, was the last fleeting thought Lily had before immediately scolding herself for being so stupid, and then slowly closing her emerald orbs and drifting back into a restless sleep, with the lamp on her night table still brightly burning.

x

Lily slept late that morning. Her parents allowed her to do so for a sole reason: It was her birthday. However, her best friend had a fairly different idea about Lily's sleeping hours. "Hello...Earth to Lily! Lil-eee...Good morning!" A voice beamed through the cup-and-string, walkie-talkie-like communication system she and her friend had devised. Fortunately enough, Lily was privileged to be neighbors with her very best friend.

"Lily Elisabeth Evans! Hello-o-o?" A strand of knotted red hair shifted in the space between the blanket and mattress as Lily slowly peeked over her floral-patterned quilt, blinking repeadedly as though she were attempting to awaken herself in full. Gradually, she reached out an arm for the cup lying on her night table. "Ellie? Is that you?" She asked, sleep evident in her voice. "No," Elinor Avery replied sarcastically, "it's Cinderella. Lils, of course it's me! What, d'ya think my mum got hold of the cup?" Lily giggled. "I just woke up! Gimme a break!"

Lily's "just-woke-up" state faded rather quickly as just then she bounded from her bed and raced over to her window. She hastily pulled aside the rose-colored curtains and grinned as Elinor's face came into view.

Elinor Avery was very nearly Lily's direct opposite in appearence. She was taller than all of the boys in her grade, was quite tan due to an abiding love for sports and spending nearly all of her time outdoors, had thin hair the color of licorice just past her shoulders, a few freckles scattered across her nose that were almost invisible in contrast to her tanned skin, and sincere honey-brown eyes.

The two had met in the third grade, in a very perceptible manner. They had been standing in their school cafeteria, right behind one another. Lily had accidentally backed into Elinor and when she turned to apologize, she completely forgot she ever bumped into the girl. "You're tall," she had said rather stupidly. Elinor had giggled, "You're short." And, inevitably, their friendship had been a lasting one ever since.

"Morning, birthday girl!" Elinor shouted brightly. "Good morning, insane one!" Lily greeted her in return. "So," Elinor began, sitting on her window sill and allowing her long legs to dangle off the edge, "what do you think you're going to get from your parents?"

"I don't know," Lily shrugged. "Probably not anything good and I can't exactly expect the perfect present from Petunia, either."

"Well," Elinor grinned in what she hoped was a mysterious manner, "I've got you a little something. But don't open it until after your parents give you your presents so you have something to look forward to later."

"Wow, thanks, Ellie!"

"Of course! You're my friend; how could I forget your birthday?"

Within minutes (and the help of the string that connected the two cups), Elinor had hoisted the gift wrapped in ladybug-decorated paper into Lily's arms. Lily had now gone from being sullen to grinning genuninely. "You're the best, Ellie."

"I know," Elinor replied jokingly.

Before Lily had a chance to respond, footsteps became audible in the backround. "Someone's coming! Ells, get back in your room!" Without another word, Elinor hurredly swung her legs back over the windowsill, jumped back into her room, and shut the window tightly. She winked at Lily before drawing her pale blue curtains. Lily did the same, threw the gift into her wardrobe, and jumped in bed, pulling the covers up to her chin as she closed her eyes.

Lily willed herself to slow down and act as though she'd just woken as her father walked into her room. "Good morning, Princess," he greeted her. She moaned and turned over in bed. Opening one eye, she slowly said, "Hi Daddy." Mr. Evans grinned. "I know you've been up, Lils!" She sighed again and jumped out of bed. "Yeah, you caught me," she giggled. "Talking to Ellie again?" Flabbergasted, Lily stammered, "How did you know?" He gave her a rather mysterious grin and shrugged; "Father's intuition." This remark caused Lily to burst into a fit of laughter - for her mother frequently said the same, only Mrs. Evans was quite serious about this so-called 'Mother's intuition'.

After breakfast (which consisted of as many strawberry pancakes as Lily could eat that were completely immersed in whipped cream as well as hot chocolate to drink), it came time for Lily to unwrap her presents. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were very pleased indeed at the fact that their daughter was genuninely anticipating her gifts so, which was quite a change-off from the usual faked excitement she forged, for they knew not of the true source of her enthusiasm which was casually lying in her wardrobe.

"Petunia? Come on, dear, we're opening Lily's presents now!" Petunia sighed, clearly irked. "Do I _have_ to? I've got about a thousand things better to do with my time. I-" "Petunia! Now," her mother said sternly. "Fine!" she pouted, storming into the living room. Lily had counted six brightly wrapped gifts and although she knew none of them contained anything special, she also carried the knowledge that it was the thought that was most important. The bright-eyed girl reached out for her first present and, according to the card, it was from both of her parents. Carefully peeling off the paper that was bedecked with rainbows, she unveiled none other than a book. Skimming the back, she found it a novel that only remotely tweaked her interest. Regardless, she thanked her parents graciously as so not to hurt their feelings.

After all presents had been unsheathed, Lily had received an olive green sweater embroidered with pink blossoms going down the sleeves from her mother ("It brings out your eyes, dear! Oh, you're going to look so pretty in this!" Lily had exuberantly agreed even though she knew that its inevitable fate was at the bottom of her wardrobe: Nothing in her closet was green and she was convinced that it was definitely not her color.); another book from her father, this one containing the full history and lore of both dragons and witchcraft which Lily immediately loved; a porcelain doll from her aunt and uncle on her mother's side with auborn braids and jade eyes which she knew she would give to Elinor's younger sister; a stuffed calico cat plushie from her grandparents on her father's side which Lily decided against giving to Elinor's sister due to her abiding love of cats; and a rather inexpensive make-up set from Petunia. Lily noticed that her sister had forgotton to remove the price tag (which had not been from absent-mindedness but from pure carelessness), confirming the cost: One pound, even.

Petunia Evans never had been the brightest light bulb in the box. She was tall and horse-like in appearence with stringy, shoulder-length blond hair that greatly resembled straw. Her eyes were of a murky brown hue, dull and uncertain of the world. Pale was her skin although it was not delicate and porcelain-like as was her sister's. Regardless of the fact that her parents had always been loving and supportive to her, all of Petunia Evans's life she had been voraciously jealous of her sister, pretty and _perfect_, clever and well-liked, talented and thoughtful - all of the triats Petunia herself failed to posess. There was no way the eldest Evans child was going to let her younger sister wallow in her glory, never would Petunia let her feel good about herself, no, if Lily was going to be perfect, Petunia would never allow her to know it. Being as clever as she was, Lily was far from blind to her sister's resentment towards her though she could never devine the reason. Due to this and the fact that Lily was so young and vulnerable to insecurities, Petunia's plot to make her sister's life miserable had always worked flawlessly.

Mrs. Evans had assured Lily that more gifts were coming for her via the post but her bright-eyed daughter barely heard her. In order to escape the excitement of newly-opened birthday presents and the dying enthusiasm of chucking vibrantly-hued wrapping paper in rubbish bins and get to her friend's gift, Lily excused herself, saying that she was eager to begin her new book.

Once inside her fiery bedroom, Lily swung the cherry-wood doors of her wardrobe open and threw aside two over-sized t-shirts and one long-forgotton navy scarf to reach the ladybug-clad gift. Excitedly, she ripped the buoyant paper from the object. When all red and black parchment was strewn away, what Lily had in her hands caused her petite jaw to drop slightly. It was another book which would have been fine since Lily adored literature of nearly any genre, but this particular book she knew she would instantly fall in love with. Thick was its leather-bound spine and upon glancing at the number lying at the bottom of the last page, she saw that it stood well over one thousand pages in length. This would frustrate most, but to Lily, it was merely prolonging the pleasure of reading. The title in beautiful, anicient-looking gold cursive lettering, read _An Encyclopedia of Wizardry_. Most individuals her age would stop reading at the word "encyclopedia" and pronounce it as a mind-numbingly long, boring book only used by English teachers for the express purpose of torturing young children. But not Lily.

In this particular case, most children would be correct in its being long, but not mind-numbingly so to Lily. As any magick enthusiast knew quite well, encyclopedias of wizardry or anything of the sort were hardly like encyclopedias in contents. Yes, they did contain an excessively long table of contents and index and it was split into seperate chapters for each point it covered but it was so intensely facinating, seeming as though it was both factual and fictitious at the same time, that it simply seemed unlike a standard encyclopedia - and it was _not_ like a standard encyclopedia.

Grinning broadly, the young redhead immediately raced to her window, the cup-and-string device at hand just in case Elinor was not facing her. Nearly ripping the curtains aside, Lily opened her window and called, "Ellie!" But Elinor was not present by her window nor, in fact, was she in her room at all.

Slightly disappointed, Lily made her way down the winding staircase in her home before rushing out the door with a brief shout to her parents that she was going to Elinor's house. Racing to her friend's home, she knocked upon the dark wooden door and rocked impatiently on her heels as she waited for Mrs. Avery to come to the door. After what felt like hours to Lily, the top of Mrs. Avery's dark hair became visible through the small window on the door as she opened it. "Hello Lily! Happy birthday, dear," she greeted her daughter's best friend warmly. "Hi, Mrs. Avery, thank you," she said, without bothering to pause between her sentences.

"Come in, come in...Are you here for Elinor?" Without waiting for her reply, Mrs. Avery called for her daughter whom was apparently upstairs, "Elinor! Lily's here to see you!"

"Coming!" came Elinor's immediate reply. Breathlessly, the tall girl raced down her stairs before smiling widely at Lily. Without another word, the two girls rushed up to Elinor's room and sat on her cushiony bed, facing each other.

"Ellie, where were you two seconds ago? I tried to talk to you from my room but you weren't there," Lily inquired.

"Sorry," Elinor shrugged it off instantaneously, "I was on the phone with Jenny and Clair - Jenny's got three-way calling, how cool is that?"

"Oh," Lily replied, feeling slightly belittled, "yeah. It's...great."

"But anyway! I can guess why you're here."

Lily decided to forget about Jenny and Claire for the time being and started, "Wow!" She wasn't quite sure what other words existed to describe her gratitude, "Ellie...! Your gift was just...amazing! You are the _best_. Honestly, that must have cost a fortune! You really shouldn't have-"

Elinor raised a hand in order to cease her best friend's nonstop babbling. "Calm down! You _are_ my best friend, after all and it _is_ your birthday! Only the best for you, Lils. Besides, it was nothing!"

Lily shook her head, at a loss for words.

"Anyway," Elinor proclaimed, moving, on, "Claire, Jenny, and me are all going to go to the park for a game of football. Wanna come?"

"Oh," Lily said for the second successive time, not knowing how to refuse this invite and feeling both upset that her friend was going off without her on her birthday and guilty that Elinor was kindly asking if she wished to come along and it was her own fault that she'd be without her. "Um..."

Again, Elinor held up her hand. "No problem. I know you don't exactly love sports and I wouldn't have gone if they hadn't invited me three days ago 'cause it's your birthday. But I'll make it up to you later, promise! Anywhere you want to go, we wil. 'K?"

_Ellie's such a great friend - I'm being so awful!_ Lily thought to herself. But it wasn't just that she disliked almost all sports, she also was not particularly fond of Jenny and Claire nor did they care for her. "You're the best, Ells," she repeated, not sure what else was appropriate to say at the given moment. Elinor seemed to underatand all Lily wanted to say perfectly. Without needing any further words, Elinor's and Lily's friendship grew stronger yet.

x

Thirty minutes later, Lily lay stretched out over her bed, hovering over her new encyclopedia, thoroughly absorbed in a different world. She was so engrossed in it, in fact, that she failed to notice the tawny owl tapping its talons against her window.

It wasn't until the owl made its fifth tap that Lily even looked up from the monumental volume. When she did not hear a subsequent tap, she discarded the interruption as merely a woodpecker at the side of the house or another, perfectly ordinary factor. However, when she heard it a sixth and then a seventh time, she thought differently. "What on earth?" she started to say, making her way up from her bed and over to her window.

For the second time that day, her jaw dropped. She rubbed her eyes, as though to confirm that it was not merely her overactive imagination that was producing the sight before her. _Why in the world is there an owl at my window?_ She asked herself, completely dumbfounded, as she blinked inquisitively at the small bird of prey.

Her abundant knowledge of numerous subjects which she had obtained from reading so frequently was not needed to know that owls were scarcely, if ever, seen out during daylight. So then she racked her brain for a reason for the owl's presence at, of all places, the window to her bedroom.

She could not name one.

In the minutes that followed, Lily found herself in a staring contest with the tawny. It was as though her brain, unable to classify an explanation, had frozen over completely. Her trance-like state was only to be disrupted when the owl rapted upon her window pane again. Summoning all of her courage, Lily Evans opened the window.

Automatically,she threw both of her arms up over her face in order to protect herself from those razor-like talons that she had read so much about in _All You Ever Wanted To Know About Owls and More_ but ten seconds past and the impact never came. Tentatively, she lowered one limb slightly and peered over it. The owl was looking quite harmless as it hovered about the room, and it appeared to be carrying a piece of parchment tied to its leg. Removing her arms from her face completely, she took a delicate step in the direction of the tawny. To her immense shock, he extended his leg. She stared dumbly at the rolled-up piece of parchment for a few seconds before unsurely reaching her hand out to take the alleged letter.

As soon as she laid her eyes on the address written upon the thick envelope, the emerald orbs grew wide in astonishment.

_Miss Lily Evans  
The red bedroom on the top floor  
15 Endymion Drive  
Oxshott_

"How...how did you know where I live?" Lily asked no one in particular. She looked up. The owl was gone; it had flown back out the still-open window. The rose-hued curtains billowed in the summer breeze, as if beckoning to Lily, as if informing her that there was another world awaiting her, lying just beyond her reach. Not knowing what else to do, she raced downstairs, hollering for her parents.

Author's ramble: Ha, I basically stole the phrase 'author's ramble' from Tasha but it's too late to do anything about it now! D

First, I'd like to point out that the character Ellie's namesake is notme. I named her Elinor and the nickname just sort of came about. >. 

Mmkay, I would greatly appreciate reviews! Feel free to comment on anything you think was unclear or could be improved as well as what you liked!

33333 Ellie


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